Somalia: Meheri clan

United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, Somalia: Meheri clan, 31 August 1999, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a6a22c.html [accessed 2 August 2015]

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Query:

Does the Meheri Clan exist?

Response:

The only mention of a Meheri (Mahari, Maheri, Mehari) clan available to the RIC is that already found by the Asylum Officer in Refworld. A search of NEXIS, WESTLAW and FBIS turned up nothing about this clan name.

A University of Pennsylvania Professor suggests that probably the "M" sound is from a "B" and that the clan could be an older Negroid population called the Bahar, or Bahari, who traditionally live beside rivers (telcon 1999). This source thought he remembered that the Bahar had sub-clans called the Mohamed Salah and Hasan Salah but did not have supporting documentation.

Little turned up in the databases for the Bahar variation other than mention of a town called Bahar in central Somalia where, according to an opposition group, Barre regime forces poisoned a well in 1983 (Radio Halgan 1983).

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RIC within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Immigration and Refugee Board, Documentation, Information, and Research Branch. Somalia: Update to SOM16227 on the current situation of the Meheri (Mahari, Maheri, Mehari) Response to Information Request (Ottawa, Canada: SOM17006.E, 29 March 1994)  as reported on UNHCR/CDR REFWORLD CD-ROM.

Radio Halgan. "Condemnation of Alleged Well Poisoning by Somali Government" (10 October 1983), from the BBC Summary of World Broadcasts  as reported in NEXIS.